Plastic and nature have one of the most interestingly circular relationships. In one of those “history repeats itself” moments, periodicals in the mid-19th century warned the public about the imminent extinction of elephants whose tusks were being removed at an alarming pace to produce billiard balls. Almost every wealthy American and European home sported a billiards table at the time yet one entire tusk...

Ridesharing’s come a long way. During the economic recession of World War I, as Americans looked for ways to save on fuel, car owners began offering up empty seats in their cars to fellow commuters. These cars were called “jitneys” and the term became synonymous with rideshares that competed with taxis. Later, when Richard Nixon sought to reduce petroleum consumption during the 1970s energy crisis, he...

Weight Watchers began in 1961 when Brooklyn homemaker Jean Nidetch lost 20 pounds following a New York City Board of Health-sponsored diet. Although successful, Jean found it difficult to stay on track. Wanting to stay motivated, she phoned several friends to discuss her diet and its fallbacks. She not only received empathy and mutual support, but her friends also began sharing their dieting stories. The...

If it seems like more people are zooming around your city on those green electric scooters and bikes, you are right. In February, Lime announced that it had closed a $310 million series D financing round, valuing the company at $2.4 billion, more than doubling the previous valuation of $1.1 billion. Lime—which began operations at the University of North Carolina in 2017 as LimeBike then changed its name...

Four years ago, Amazon created “Prime Day,” ostensibly to celebrate the company’s 1995 founding, but also as a shrewdly strategic summer counter to Black Friday. The event, which offered online discounts exclusively to Prime members, worked in a big, big way. In 2016, sales from Prime Day made up a whopping 74 percent of all online commerce. Prime Day sales rose 60 percent the following year, with Amazon...

Taco Bell ad pros at DraftFCB have always been known for their creativity. But will the agency’s most recent idea, a completely immersive Taco Bell experience, give the company the boost it needs to appease concerns over its financial future? In 2011, Taco Bell was sued by Amanda Obney, a customer in California who argued that Taco Bell could not call its filling “seasoned beef” because it contained too...

We talk about “seeing the doctor.” But it’s really the nurse we spend most of our face-to-face health care time with. These are the unsung heroes most likely to greet you, take your vitals, listen to your medical complaints and ask all of those embarrassing questions. Compare that with a study indicating that 64% of primary doctors and 80% of specialists didn’t even ask their patients the purpose of their...

Bad news for carnivores In January the National Institutes of Health reported that eating red meat daily can triple the presence of a chemical linked to heart disease, which affects nearly 610,000 people in the US each year and remains the number-one cause of death. Trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO), a byproduct of the digestion of choline, which is abundant in red meat, egg yolks, and dairy products, along...